


Taking a Chance on Bucky Barnes

by roguefaerie



Category: Marvel, Marvel 616
Genre: Access Intimacy, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Flirting, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Not MCU compliant, Rescue, Soft Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28862100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguefaerie/pseuds/roguefaerie
Summary: In which Clint takes a chance on Bucky being Bucky and it pays off.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Taking a Chance on Bucky Barnes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [textbookchoices](https://archiveofourown.org/users/textbookchoices/gifts).



> I'm less familiar with the comics universe than I'd like to be, and I also did a little bit of handwaving about how actually complicated this would be for them. I hope you like this attempt at their personalities all the same!

Clint can see people running toward him at a fast clip, and not the way he’s running in his purple jogging clothes. No, they’re running as if their lives depend on it, and he knows that kind of adrenaline-fueled last-ditch effort very well.

So he speeds up in the direction he’s already going, running past most of them. The silence around him allows him to easily narrow his focus to get to wherever the danger is.

He doesn’t stop to ask any questions. He wouldn’t be able to hear the answers.

Next he smells smoke. He could take a guess at some of the chemicals if he wanted to, but he just decides to try to inhale as few of them as possible and keeps on running.

At the blast site, he zeroes in on something he can’t say he’s surprised to see.

Or, more accurately, someone.

Someone whose face is well known on his team.

There can be only one--or he’s pretty sure that’s true. If it’s not, he’s pretty screwed.

Lying prone in the blast is Bucky Barnes.

And no, Clint shouldn’t exactly just count on this going well, but he’s bending down and picking Bucky up anyway.

It’s what a hero would do. And Clint is a hero.

He’ll worry about the rest later.

*

Later, he deposits Bucky in his own bed without thinking much of it- -and then sets out a legal pad where he’s written in block letters.

_You might not really have any idea who I am. But I wasn’t going to leave you there._

_My name is Clint and you’re safe here._

_Also I’m completely deaf (if you can use the pad great, I can read lips but it’s annoying)._

__

That’s a start.

Even using a pen that much is hurting his hands and wrists, and soon it will be radiating through all of the other parts of his body where there’s nerve pain to be had. But he imagines that he’s about to have a world of pain in common with his charge, so he tries to ( _ow ow ow_ ) shove it to the back of his head for it to stay somewhere useful.

He supposes he has a lot of waiting to do. 

He tries to pretend he’s not watching Bucky too closely from across the small space they’re in. He busies himself with making coffee, and then guzzling it. He can decide on food when Bucky is awake.

Holy shit. Bucky Barnes is in his apartment.

And hopefully there’s only one of him.

If there’s more, Clint’s so screwed.

He’s also busy very much not making phone calls, because he’s definitely not going to deal with explaining superhero logic to a single other soul over TTY right now. 

He supposes there is video chat if he really wanted to use it. If he wanted to tell the team everything. It’s not like he couldn’t find them right now.

But he’d also kind of like to be the one who handles this.

He’s the hero of his own story, right?

*

Bucky stirs in the bed, which Clint can see because he is definitely watching too closely. Clint doesn’t make a sound. He’s good at that kind of thing. He watches Bucky as he finds the legal pad and blinks at the words on the page a few times.

Then he looks up and he must see Clint, as long as his eyes are still working anyway. He blinks a few times and then rereads what’s on the pad and picks up the pen, painstakingly slow and starts to write.

At least the playing field is even. Maybe the chance Clint took will pay off after all.

Bucky hands the legal pad to Clint. He’s written, _It’s been a long time since somebody saved my life. What gives?_

Clint smiles. _Would you believe your reputation precedes you?_ Clint passes the pad back.

Bucky’s eyes widen, then narrow. _Maybe_ , he writes. _You can’t hear me, huh?_

_Nope._

_So you must know...some people that I know._

_Something like that._

Bucky nods and flashes a thumbs up.

_I get it. Hey. I haven’t even said thank you yet. So, um. Thank you._

_I thought you might be trying to decide if you even wanna be back here or not._

_Yeah. You ain’t kiddin’._

It seems like Clint’s gamble might net good results in the end. He’s pretty sure that he’s got the real Bucky, even if they aren’t about to name names or reveal identities.

_Hey...Clint? I’m grateful. Sorry that I don’t know how to sign._

Clint shrugs, gesturing to the legal pad.

 _If you keep me around long enough, I could learn_ , Bucky adds to the page.

Clint blinks and then furiously writes, _You trust me, huh?_

_You just saved my life. I’m pretty sure those are usually the actions of a trustworthy individual._

Clint shrugs again. _Fair enough_. He pauses and then brings the pen to paper again. _You hungry, or?_

_Not really. Water?_

Shit. Yeah. A guy who just survived a bomb blast probably needs water more than coffee--even if coffee works better on the type of pain Clint feels.

Clint nods and gets up, coming back with water as soon as he can get it poured.

Bucky flashes another thumbs up. Then he slowly drinks.

He winces like even the inside of his throat hurts and Clint is sure that more of what counts for sympathy pain in his world is around the corner.

Neither of them ask the kind of question that could be the one getting them in the wrong kind of trouble.

But it doesn’t surprise Clint that Bucky is just like the guy they always talk about, so when he goes back to writing and asks, _This how you treat all the guys you like?_ Clint just grins in answer and lets it be what it is.

_Sure. But most of them aren’t ready to learn to sign._

_Yeah, well, I learned from one of the best. It’s called common courtesy if you ask me._ A pause. _Anyway, you have my word. If I don’t die from my injury--and I’m not the kind of guy who does that--then I’ll start learning stat._

_I’m gonna hold you to that._

**Author's Note:**

> Well I hope you liked my first time writing Clint. I'll _probably_ try to do this again with more finesse in the future. Also, I did have some of Clint's block writing written out as caps, but I remembered that can be an access fail/seizure trigger for some, so I took it out. Hopefully the spirit of the idea remains. :)


End file.
